Eagles' coordinators looking for midseason form

August 17, 2012|By Nick Fierro, Of The Morning Call

PHILADELPHIA — — By the end of next Monday night, the powers that be on the Philadelphia Eagles hope to have a much better read on how ready they are for a marathon season they expect to last into February.

That's when their regulars ostensibly face their last true preseason test: a road game against the New England Patriots in which the starters and rotation players could go into the third quarter. The remaining two preseason games will primarily be used to gauge depth and evaluate the many players who are battling for the 53 roster spots.

Needless to say, Monday's contest will be the most important for the Eagles before their season opener on Sept. 9 at Cleveland.

Because of that, they've transitioned into more of a regular-season routine, with a full week of game-specific preparation that has offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg's juices flowing.

"This is just excellent for the organization ... for all of the coaches so we can get into a routine. It's just excellent for the players because they get back into a routine. It's tremendous for the new players we have, whether they are a rookie or a veteran that is new to how we go about doing our business.

"I know I'm excited and I know the players are as well, especially with a game-simulated week. It's not quite like a game week, but we're trying to simulate it as close as we can. I know the players are really excited about that."

His first-team offense should have a chance to get into a rhythm it never found in a 24-23 win over Pittsburgh to open the preseason.

Defensive coordinator Juan Castillo wants his players to help provide the offense with that by doing a better job of preventing their opponents from controlling the football the way Pittsburgh did for most of the first half.

"The key is the third downs," he said. "We practiced pretty well and in the first game we had about five or six third downs and we were one out of six, so that is something we need to improve this week. We did a good job in practice at Lehigh after the game but we need to improve that."

Complicating matters for both coordinators will be the limited looks they'll be allowed to show in an exhibition, for fear of revealing too much about themselves before the real games begin. However, the Patriots are facing the same scenario, so even though mostly basic schemes will be what both sides show, it still should be a good test — better than the one against Pittsburgh and what they'll see the rest of the way before their opener.

DRC hit with huge fine

Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who is due any minute now for a big-time contract extension, mixed a little humor with reality after learning on Friday that the NFL has fined him $21,000 for launching himself into Steelers quarterback Byron Leftwich in the preseason opener.

Cromartie after the game didn't think he had delivered a cheap shot. But according to league rules, he definitely did, and now it seems he was lucky to only be fined $21,000. Many league insiders believed he could have or should have deserved six-figure discipline.

One thing is for sure, when Cromartie is finally paid — and it is only a matter of time before the Eagles extend a contract that calls for him to make $2 million this season — he will be able to write a check like that without wincing.